About Lena (she/her)

I am a feminist nurse-midwife, educator, and mindfulness practitioner and teacher. My work as a midwife is grounded the reproductive justice framework developed by Sistersong, and informed by research on trauma-informed care, interpersonal neurobiology, and Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting.

During my clinical practice as a midwife, I’ve often struggled to help connect my patients with childbirth and newborn care classes that fully explore both the practicalities as well as the profound emotional shifts that transpire during the childbearing year. At their 6-week postpartum visit, people would often tell me, “I feel like I learned a lot about how to cope with labor pain, but then I got home with a baby and realized I hadn’t thought through the enormous changes that come after. I was not prepared for the emotional resilience needed to weather these first six weeks!”

At the same, I also yearned for support to ease my own transition into being a midwife. Midwifing, like parenting, requires extraordinary effort, energy, flexibility, compassion, humility...the list goes on. Like parenting, it is deeply rewarding and joyful, but also incredibly demanding. Healthcare provider burnout is a very real and newly appreciated challenge as we emerge from the aftermath of the COVID pandemic.

Eventually, I discovered the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, who developed the now well-researched Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. This eight-week series introduces participants to core mindfulness practices in a secular manner, making them accessible to anyone. I took a MBSR course here in Portland and felt reconnected to my own inner resilience and ability to navigate challenging situations both at home and at work.

I was also introduced to the work of Nancy Bardacke, a nurse-midwife at UCSF for many years, who also trained as a MBSR instructor. In the late 1990’s, she found herself wishing she could teach MBSR classes for her pregnant patients and out of that desire she developed a new curriculum, Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting. I completed the two-year MBCP teacher training with Nancy and other faculty, while continuing to deepen my own personal mindfulness practice. 

I am so thrilled to finally be able to offer MBCP classes and parenting groups to the Portland community. This unique curriculum, taught in a group setting, beautifully integrates the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of transitioning to parenthood in a way that is open-minded and open-hearted. One doesn’t have to be religious, spiritual, a meditator, or anything else to reap the benefits of developing a mindfulness practice. It is the beginning of a life-long practice of cultivating your own inner awareness and your ability to be fully present for yourself and your family. At the same time, our classes will help you nurture the supportive village of other parents so vital to parenting in today’s world. It is my great joy and privilege to share this work with you.